Forever Yours
by Kendrakins
Summary: Dreams in reality are miracles; nightmares in reality, are tragedies. The pain that Ritsuka feels for Soubi is too strong for him, but could these dreams be leading to a new brand of a fighter system, and the death of HIS beloved?
1. The New Beginning

Wow, this is my first time working on fan fiction, I really hope it turns out as good as I hoped it would. I have a really good story in mind but I'm completely sure of how I want to put it out. Ahh well, hopefully it turns out fine.

It's not exactly rated M just yet.. give me some time xD. It's hard for a thirteen year old to think of things

Disclaimer: No one owns Ritsuka, but I do own miss Urima Katsuka and Sayuki Chioshi ;P –pwnage- and whatever other characters I create xD.

1. The new beginning

"Ja!" The petite boys hand lifted lightly, waving in the direction of his house as he trotted away from it, signaling to his mother Aoyagi Mitsuki he was on his way.

Sunlight shot directly over the raven-haired cat boy, allowing a wonderfully colored aura of light to envelope him in it. Today, of all days was young Ritsuka's first day of high school, longing, and waiting for this magnificent day. It was even more imaginable since he'd been accepted at one of the highest talented schools. Hiragana High. It was one of the most expensive, although honorable schools around.

Unfortunately for the young boys sake, his best of friends young Yuiko and Yayoi weren't going to be attending this highly important school. Although, great fully they were not about a mile walk away, so nor did it bother him the slightest bit.

Happily, he walked friskily, longing to see one persons face in particular. Agatsuma Soubi. Just recently, the young child had finally realized that the older man was probably the most important thing to him, and he longed to his see the man's famine face as much as possible. Ritsuka longed for him, wanting to be near him, but the fact that his high school would always get in the way crushed him deeply.

Curiously, the boys orchid hues glanced towards his cellular phone he now had held infront of him, waiting for the familiar ring tone that was customized to be Soubi's, so all the time it could easily be identified. Ritsuka sighed warily; flipping it closed and tucked it into his pant pocket, walking lazily up to the front of the school building, swallowing nervously as he stepped onto campus.

Many people swarmed the area; even some of them were earless. Weird. Carefully he went further unnoticed. He was seemingly blending in perfectly until a shot of crimson locks fluttered infront of his eyes, fallowed by continuous giggling.

"Oi, Aoyagi-san, I love your hair color! Is it natural?" The female giggled, a group of females scattered behind her join in with laughter.

'_Another Yuiko-chan? Great.'_ He grumbled lowly to himself walking away from the girl whose face was rather bright with curiosity.

"Eh!? Ritsuka-kun, come back please!" She squeaked, extending a curious hand as she looked to her friends for some backup, getting only a shake of the head and they took off In the opposite direction, making her pout sadly.

He shook his head annoyingly, ignoring the girls aggravating voice as he continued to where he wouldn't be noticed, pulling his cell phone out one last time to gaze at it. His eyes narrowed frustratingly, he wanted to say something to Soubi, just hear his voice before he heard the toll of the school bell, but it was useless.

'_Maybe… I should just let him know what time school ends..?'_ He asked himself softly, flipping the cell open and went to his email box, and clicked on compose, already beginning a really short email to his sentouki.

_Soubi, my school ends at 3:00 sharp, please be here. _

_Ri-chan_

Ritsuka sighed softly, waiting for the message to send directly to Soubi's phone, waited until it was completely sent, and flipped it close. Looking up to see the crimson haired female standing directly infront of him again. Giving up, he put the light blue cell phone away, fixing his attention on the female.

"Now what?"

"Ritsuka-kun.. I'm sorry; I just wanted to get to know you.. Everyone knows you.." She bounced slightly, although he tone was low and shy, her raspberry hues stayed fixated on the concreted stairwell in which Ritsuka himself was perched on.

"Did you really want to get to know me? Or was it your friends there who asked you to talk to me?" He scowled lowly, keeping his gaze low and looked towards her group of friends who were chattering amongst themselves far off in the distance, looking at the two of them.

The girl nervously began to fidget with the hem of her light blue sweater, looking towards her friends and back towards the raven-haired male. She looked like she was about to cry but then she gave him a bright smile, shaking her head.

"Not at all Ritsuka-kun, I myself wanted to get to know you. All of us just know you from the headmaster, he says you'll probably be one of the best students here." She explained, nodding at the same time as her beautifully colored locks fell over her shoulders. "I'm Katsuka Urima by the way and I'm in 12th grade. I really think you'll like it here Aoyagi-kun." The girl greeted, turning around and waved slightly, running back to her group of friends.

"So she's older then me?" He questioned, grinding his feet into the cement and sighed slightly. She was quite pretty for a sophomore; her beautifully colored raspberry eyes and the lovely oriented color of her crimson hair. It blended amazingly with her cutely fuzzy ears and tail she still had planted on her head and tailbone.

The boy mumbled something under his breath, something along the lines of. 'Thank goodness I haven't given into Soubi yet.. I love my ears..' and tugged on them at the same time mumble it. Ritsuka's eyes levitated from the ground, looking around at all the eared people, jumping slightly as his pocket began to vibrate.

'_He responded!'_ He chimed to himself, taking out the cell and flipped it open, sighing slightly when he noticed it wasn't who he hoped it was. Disappointedly, his ears flattened themselves against his head when he noticed that it was only Yuiko wishing him a wonderful day and she'd see him after school if he wanted.

_Hey Yu-chan, I won't be able to walk home with you.. I'm expecting to have Soubi come after school. I'll let you know if there's a change of plans, all right?_

_Ri-kun_

Ritsuka immediately flipped his cell closed, turning it off and, tucking it into his pocket and got up from the wall, looking back to where the girl named Katsuka had run off. It disappointed him that Soubi was busy enough to not respond to his email, neither the less he didn't email Ritsuka to begin with.

Then the bell annoyingly rang, as students spilled threw the front doors and into the hallways. Ritsuka wasn't sure if he'd like this school without people he liked, or knew. It took him a while to adapt to his other school, and would he survive at this one? It didn't matter all too much, he just wanted to graduate for his mother and father and get a good job so he could support a family of his own. At least, that's what the young boy hoped for.

People around walked through the hallways quickly, meeting their lockers, putting things inside and also keeping things in their arms. This locker thing was all new to him and he was confused on what subjects he needed. Then to his safety a young girl walked up to him, holding out a small piece of paper that looked like a roomnumber. Giving him a weak, although friendly smile.

"You must be Aoyagi Ritsuka. I'm Sayuki Chioshi, I'm also in your homeroom." She greeted him, a small shy frail smile creasing through her lips.

Chioshi had light blue hair that ended just underneath her human ears and bright green eyes. She was quite cute for someone his age, she even over-powered Yuiko's appearance.

"Arigato.." He responded, taking the small piece of paper from her and followed her into a room, sitting down in a random seat and she too sat in one not too far off from him. He couldn't help but smile at her; she was too cute for words. Ritsuka sighed softly, lowering his head as beautiful raven-haired locks fell over his eyes, blocking the orchid hues to allow a small hint of purple to shine through.

Everyone in his class seemed to be normal. Shades of different colored ears and hair spewed across the small classroom, tall and short figures of females and males. Some of them were very handsome or pretty where some of them were of average appearance. Like him, some of them had the appearance where they wanted to be left alone, and would immediately fit into the 'cool' category.

A lot of the students were examining the timetables they had received a couple days ago, but he had an important encounter with an annoying spell battle occurrence that made him miss getting it. Shyly, his hand rose, all eyes on him.

"Sensei.. I still need a timetable.." He mumbled deeply, lowering his hand as his teacher caught it walking over to him as she fished through some papers and pulled out a sheet of paper that read 'Aoyagi Ritsuka' In neat well printed Romanji lettering.

"There you are Aoyagi-kun.." She chimed, walking away as she stood infront of the blackboard, scratching her name onto it and turned around pointing to it with her index finger. "**Watashi no namae wa sen Kaname Sensei desu" She spoke in her clearest Japanese wording, giving the class a bright smile.**

**Obviously her cheerfulness didn't catch the class's attention where some of them played no attention as well, doodling in notepads or chatting with people that sat around them. It seemed everyone knew each other for the unfortunate young Aoyagi Ritsuka and the young Sayuki Chioshi.**

'_She seems a lot like Miss Shinonome… wonderful..'_ He groaned miserably, putting her face into his arms, which were momentarily crossed across his desk, fiddling with the corner of it with his fingers.

"Class, pay attention!" her voice was risen and all were silent. This woman sure had a loud voice for how small she was, and she seemed to deal with kids a lot. All was assumed she had children since her ears had gone, leaving her with an earless head.

Ritsuka's head lifted immediately, sitting up straight and kept his shoulders high. He wasn't purposely trying to make a good impression; besides, half of the school knew his name, right? So what did it matter? They all knew his reputation and what he's capable of. Slowly, very slowly, he was changing into the real 'Ritsuka' the one his mother longed for.

Even so, the boy paid no attention to what was happening around him, gazing off into his own little world as the teacher rambled on how about how much fun the school year was going to be. He didn't think it was going to be wonderful, right now; he was more worried about his entire future, everything that would happen during his companionship with his Sentouki and when would everything be completely and utterly under control?

* * *

"Aren't you going to reply to that email Sou-chan?" The blonde haired male squealed delightfully, adding some finishing touches to his still life of the creamy longhaired male that sat directly infront of him. 

"Sometime later.. I want Ritsuka to go along with his day first.." He responded warily, arching his back slightly as Kio ordered him. The pose he was sitting in was very seductive, although it was for an art assignment so he wasn't going to pass it up.

Soubi himself, already had finished his, it was a picture of Ritsuka he painted by memory and my god was it really lovely. It was a complete mural of the cat-eared boy, just a magnificent piece of work. He sighed softly, his light blue eyes shifting in the direction of the silver cell phone that sat beside him. He wasn't going to respond to the email, but he was going to show up at the proper time Ritsuka wanted him there.

"You're so naïve, making a young boy wait for such a time. If you did that to me my foot would be up you're a-"

"Now now Kio, don't be rash…" He smirked, butting into the males sentence as Kio motioned for Soubi to do whatever he wanted, since he was finished.

"You really are competitive, what are you trying to do to the poor kid before he breaks down?" Kio asked him mischievously, turning the painting around to show Soubi his work of art, grinning cutely.

"I'm trying to make him realize how much he wants me there with him Kio, besides, he's not a kid anymore. He's turning fifteen…" Soubi grinned; buttoning up his long sleeved shirt he was wearing to add some sort of affect to the painting. "Nice work.." He complimented Kio, taking the elastic from around his wrist and tied it around his lemony locks.

"Fifteen? Has it really been that long?" Kio asked him curiously, standing up from his chair and walked over to a window, laying the painting against it so the breeze and the sunlight could dry it quicker.

Soubi nodded, walking over to another window that was inside the dorm room, letting out a soft sigh as his face become sodden. He was dying to see _his _beloved, but he had to wait, just until four o'clock at the least. The breeze that came through the open window he himself was standing at carried his hand under a drift, allowing it to meet his

Cheekbones and graze along the butterfly earrings in his ear on either side.

"Yes, It really has been that long… it's amazing how much time can fly when you're having the time of your life.." He responded quietly, looking over to Kio with a light soft smile. "Hey, do you want to go for a walk? Get some fresh air?"

"Oh, do I." Kio chimed, standing back up from the chair he was sitting on and linked arms with his 'wife' as he puts it, walking out of the dorm room pushing the door open and disappeared through it. Immediately, a small blue lolli-pop was put into his mouth, sucking adoringly on it. Kindly, her offered Soubi one, as he resonantly took it from Kio.

"Arigato." He grinned, unraveling the plastic from the sucker and popped it into his mouth, the white stick poking from in-between his lips.

The two of them walked out of the large building, entering the streets of the extremely bright day. Sunlight cascaded over the two men as they paced the sidewalks, looking around at everyone that passed them. To some people, they would seem like a gay couple, having their arms linked like that, but in other words it was Kio's fault for doing so, he _was _the one who grabbed Soubi's arm.

"What exactly did you need a walk for anyway Sou-chan?" Kio asked him curiously, giving him a cute adoring look.

"I wanted to go for a walk. Besides, I'm picking Ritsuka up after school. I thought you might want to meet him in person." Soubi grinned, glancing down to the blonde male that walked beside him, into his dark charcoal eyes.

Kio pouted softly. He assumed Soubi did this because he wanted some time alone with him. Surely he shouldn't have thought of the such. Instead he nodded warily, tightening his grip on Soubi's arm.

"Is that so? Well, I wouldn't mind meeting the little trouble maker anyways." He grinned, almost done the lolli-pop that was in his mouth.

Soubi snarled, getting Kio off of him. Obviously what he'd called Ritsuka annoyed him greatly. His bright blue eyes were flaring with aggravation, crunching down on the lolli-pop he spat it out, walking off leaving the male standing there, bewildered.

"Hey, hey, heyy!!!" Kio shouted, running after Soubi as the light blonde hair male took off down the street, disappearing down some random alleyway. "Aww, Damnit, I did it again.." He moaned, burying his face into his hand and sighed, turning back around and headed towards the collage he was at, planting his hands into his pockets.

Soubi grinded his teeth annoyingly as he clenched his eyes closed. It burned him inside seeing someone call his sacrifice such a horrible name, wanting to go into a rage of anger. It took him some time to calm down, placing a cool hand on his forehead, wiping some sweat away from it and stepped out of the alley, onto the sidewalk and deciding to head in the direction of Ritsuka's school. It'd take some time to walk there, but it was definitely worth it.

* * *

Ritsuka sighed warily, pulling out his cell phone as he walked to the cafeteria where students spilled non-stop into it. He felt uncomfortable, not knowing anyone there so he randomly sat down at a table, staring emotionlessly at his light blue cell. 

"Need someone to sit with?" A familiar voice rang behind his back, moving to the other side of the table and sat down. It was Chioshi, the girl that was in his class.

He nodded towards the girl, removing his eyes from the phone and placed it down, giving her a light smile in response. Ritsuka sat up properly, he didn't want to eat anything today, everything was running through his mind and he couldn't think completely straight at the moment.

"You really do… seem popular Aoyagi-kun.." Chioshi whispered, she too didn't have any food with her, she was just completely empty handed except for a notepad she had in her hands.

Ritsuka rolled his eyes, although looked around. People were obviously staring at him. Was it because he was sitting with Chioshi? Or was it just because of him? Not the point, he just didn't like a lot of attention and it was all starting to annoy him greatly.

"It's something I should be grateful for, is it?" Ritsuka retorted, getting fidgety by her company, not really giving her any eye contact. Even so, it was quite hard for him not to. Her appearance was splendid. Her hair color was lovely, along with the amazing color of her bright emerald eyes. "Not if you don't want to take it as a good thing." She giggled softly, resting her chin onto her hands, which made a bridge with her fingers. Her eyes gazed adoringly into Ritsuka's beginning to make him feel rather uncomfortable. "Everyone knows who you are, especially about what happen seven years ago… about your older brother… and the fire.." Chioshi was beginning to whisper, looking away from the male.

"It's not exactly a secret anymore, is It.." He responded back frailly, keeping his eyes locked on the girl, trying to take in every detail about her. Ritsuka was beginning to become hungry, although he wouldn't bother eating; the things on his mind were bothering him greatly.

The female shook her head, taking it off her hands and sat back into her chair, tall and shoulders forward. She looked really professional to be in a school like this, her grades must've been really high like his. Chioshi blinked a few times before she began to spoke, a queer smile across her face.

"Aoyagi-kun, where do you live?" The girl asked him quietly, her face turning a tinge of red as well as her ears lowering themselves completely, flattening and blending themselves within her sapphire locks.

He looked at her curiously, raising a suspicious eyebrow towards her and then sighed softly. Ritsuka was hesitant on telling her where he lived. Why did she want to know? And what did she care?

"Just down the street from here, only a few blocks away… unit number 136.." He told her softly, running his fingers through his raven locks, keeping his orchid hues fixed onto the table.

"Are you serious!?" She said cheerfully, standing up and leaning across the table. "I live in unit number 137! I just moved there a few weeks ago!" Chioshi chimed, her tail wagging with complete happiness as her ears perked up. "Do you mind if I walk home with you Aoyagi-kun?" She asked hopefully, putting her hands together.

'_I'm hoping to walk home with Soubi… but I guess it's alright to meet up with her… but I was going to see Yuiko-chan as well.. I don't know what to do…'_

"So?" Chioshi pried, her hands still clenched together but her hope had died down slightly.

"Alright, but I'm also going to be meeting a friend as well, is that alright?" He asked her with a light smile, nodding in agreement to walking home with the beautiful girl.

"That's completely fine Aoyagi-kun! Oh, I'm so happy. I thought because you've come to a new school you wouldn't adapt to someone so quickly.." She blushed slightly. Thinking of the fact that it was she out of anyone he adapted quickly to. Then the bell abruptly rang.

"I'll meet you at your locker." He told her softly, rising from his seat at the table and began walking off, his ears low and his tail twitching curiously behind him. Ritsuka sighed softly, walking out of the cafeteria and headed towards his classroom.

* * *

"And, as you can see class…" The teacher rambled on with the lesson. It was nothing new to young Ritsuka, just teaching the same things over and over again over the years. "Aoyagi-kun, are you listening to me?" Kaname Sensei snapped, pointing her piece of chalk at the boy that clearly wasn't paying attention, repeatedly clicking on his mechanical pencil. 

"Hai.. gomen.." Ritsuka responded, his orchid hues looking towards the earless teacher and sighed deeply, keeping his gaze on the chalkboard instead, still not even paying attention. His mind was scattered with different things. Remembering this morning Katsuka. She had weird waves coming from her, as if, she had something to do with all of these spell battles. And then Chioshi, my is she different.

Everyone in the classroom was all chattering not really allowing the teacher to speak at all. Some of them were rude enough to even tell her to shut up. Ritsuka's head re-positioned itself to gaze out of the classroom window. Algebra wasn't exactly his favorite subject, but he easily passed the subject without ease.

Not too soon was his attention moved towards a slender girl that stood infront of him, a bright original smile spread across her adorable face. It was nether the less then Sayuki-san. Her friendly bright green eyes gazed down at him, as she took a seat beside him.

"I don't know if you were paying attention, but Kaname-sensei just told us to find partners for English. Do you mind?" She asked him hopefully, biting down lightly on her lower lip hoping his answer was an immediate yes.

"Alright." Ritsuka smiled back resonantly, pulling out his language binder and opened it up infront of him. There were a bunch of unorganized pieces of papers scatter through his dividers. It was amazing that he could find everything so easily. "Do you know exactly what we're doing?"

Chioshi giggled slightly as her ears rose slightly with fascination. He definitely wasn't paying any attention to the teacher, but she couldn't blame him. Their teacher wasn't exactly the most entertaining person alive.

She shook her head. "Not really, Kaname-sensei just told us to find a partner and I went straight to you." Chioshi told him in a soft whisper now, since the classes chatter seem to have died down.

The orchid-haired boy's face reddened slightly when she told him that. Was he really going to make another 'girlfriend'? It made him queasy at the thought, especially since he realized girls didn't attract him in a girlfriend kind of way. Then again, Soubi wasn't very manly to start off with.

Everyone in the classroom began to shuffle once again as the teacher began to speak, trying to drown her voice down with shuffling and chatter. Her eyes rolled as she took something heavy and slammed it against the ground. A little bit temperamental are we?

"Thank you…" She huffed annoyingly, picking up the book she had used to make the rather loud noise. Everyone was completely quiet when she did that, giving her some access to speak even for a slight moment of time. "Now, since today is the first day of school. I want you to find things about your partner. It's something similar to an essay or an interview. I want you to write at least one page about them and hand it in tomorrow during English class." Kaname-sensei ordered and placed the book onto her desk as she took her seat.

'_Least I don't have to draw anyone..'_ Ritsuka was relieved on that fact. He remembered in sixth grade when he had to draw Yuiko and she turned out to look like a deformed blob with eyes and a mouth.

Chioshi's gaze returned to Ritsuka, pulling out a notepad and put it onto her lap, a small smile creasing through her lips as she pulled out a pen. She was going to write everything in English since it was easier and she wasn't exactly pure Japanese. Chioshi didn't speak it fluently, so this was one reason why she went to this school.

It was a good thing that Ritsuka was bi-lingual or he would need an interpreter to read her writing. When she asked him, he began answering. Telling her that he's been through most of his school years with amazing grades, although he informed her about subjects he really didn't enjoy. Ritsuka also told her about different things he enjoys to do; like reading, playing video games, sometimes researching.

All of this seemed to amaze her because every time she received an answer her eyes lit up with fascination as she began to reluctantly write it down. Chioshi was pretty cute for a ninth grader; at least she wasn't annoying and redundant like Yuiko.

When it came his turn to write down about Chioshi, he never figured a girl like her existed. She enjoyed singing, because she always thought it could entirely express her feelings. The female also loved to write poems and stories, also another way to express her longing expressions, as well as drawing and painting.

The male's eyes lit up with the class finished and it was practically the end of the day. His bright purple hues were filled with adoring fascination towards this girl, finding out something so interesting. Just by what he learned now he figured he knew everything about her life. It was entirely amazing.

Then the bell rang, as everyone ascended from their seats and walked out of the classroom with their books in arms, spilling out of the doorway. Ritsuka and Chioshi were the last out of the classroom, walking side by side as they moved their bodies towards their lockers. It seemed the hallways emptied rather quickly.

"People here must hate school." He mumbled, turning the dial on his locks and opened it, swinging his locker door open and placed his books inside with an agitated sigh.

"I don't think that's the reason Aoyagi-kun. I just think they're excited to get home." She replied softly, closing her door after she finished placing her books inside and slung her book bag over her small shoulder.

"Hey.. Chioshi.."

"Hai, Aoyagi-kun?"

"If you want you can just call me Ritsuka. Being formal annoys me." He told her bluntly, closing his locker door as well and slung his pack over his shoulder, giving her a frail look.

"If you'd rather that, then it'll be my pleasure Ritsuka." Chioshi responded softly, already beginning to make her way down the hallway of the school, and towards the door. Her eyes were now focused on the ground as she studied it quizzically.

Curiously Ritsuka followed her down the empty hall, catching up to her immediately as her gave her one of those 'what's wrong?' kind of looks. The boy sighed slightly as he turned his head away from her, although his eyes stayed still, eying her down.

Immediately her gaze caught his, a small smile creasing through her lips. "What is it Ritsuka..?" She asked him softly, pushing the front door open as she walked down the steps, the blinding sun enlightening her bright blue hair, a goddess in the sunlight.

"It's nothing." Ritsuka said weakly, stepping down the stairs as slow as he could before he reached flat ground, and walked through the gates of the school. His eyes moved away from her when he looked around the school. Where was Soubi? He figured his school was further then it used to be, but if that was the case shouldn't he have left earlier.

"Waiting for your friend?" Chioshi said finally, breaking the dead silence. A small gust of wind came along, taking every piece of fur and hair their bodies for a small whirlwind ride. The girl chucked softly when the gust finally died down, patting down her sapphire locks, and tucked them behind her human ears.

"Yeah.. I don't know where he is though…" He said abruptly but then let out a small gasp of air when his airway was suddenly blocked. His stomach muscles retracted but then gave when he felt a warm breathe cross his neck.

"Is that he?" Chioshi asked with a bright curious smile as she watched the young boy being embraced from behind by an older, much taller male.

Ritsuka nodded as blush began to arise on his youthful face, trying to squirm out of the older males grasp and stand beside Chioshi, although nothing was working when he tried. Soubi's grip was much stronger then he ever thought. The boy sighed slightly as he gave up, closing his eyes as he waited.

"I missed you, Ritsuka.." Soubi breathed into his ear, letting go of him and let him stand beside the girl. A sad look was filling his eyes, like Ritsuka had moved on or something. "Whose this..?"

"Sayuki Chioshi." The girl said reluctantly, holding out a slender hand as the other one held loosely onto her shoulder bag, a bright toothy smile forming across her beautiful face.

"Pleasure to Soubi… meet you Sayuki-san… I'm Agatsuma Ritsuka's slave." He grinned, eying down the fourteen year old as Ritsuka's face turned immediately bright red, raising his hand as if he was about to swat him.

'_I am so going to get you for this later…' _Ritsuka growled to himself, keeping his head low so no one could read the expression on his face. His ears flattened slightly, finally deciding to raise his head. Chioshi and Soubi seemed to be carrying on a conversation.

"So your Ritsuka's classmate Chioshi?" He asked her questionably, a bright grin across his face. As if he was toying with this girl to see exactly what Ritsuka was going through.

She nodded reluctantly, a brighter smile grew on her face as her beautiful locks brushed across her cheekbones and fell infront of her eyes, giving her a very seductive look. "You've got that right." And she turned to Ritsuka. "Oh, Ritsuka, you have such a nice friend. Does he live near us?" She asked him, hoping the answer was yes but then frowned when Ritsuka's head shook slowly.

"No, he doesn't." He told her bluntly. _'And thank goodness he doesn't.' _Thanked Ritsuka, giving a grim smile as he looked towards the blue-hued male, nodding of somewhat of approval. For once he actually was glad Soubi approved of one of his friends.

Soubi's sapphire hues relocated themselves to the raven-haired boy, a mischievous smile creeping through his lips as he walked towards him, slinging his arms around Ritsuka's small shoulders. "Shall we go now?" He insisted, already starting to push Ritsuka along, Chioshi on the other side.

Ritsuka sighed heavily, ignoring Soubi's contact. Normally he'd pull away, but he wasn't going to act stupid infront of Chioshi. Especially when he finally met someone he felt he could trust more then Soubi, or even Seimei. The males eyes advanced towards Chioshi whom was on the other side of the blonde male, pursing his lips slightly as he lowered his head as he lovely raven locks fell over his orchid hues.

"Something the matter Ritsuka?" Soubi asked him, a slight hint of concern overwhelming his voice, beginning to smoothly caress the boys shoulder, making Ritsuka shudder slightly with comfort.

Ritsuka rolled his eyes irritably, shaking his head. "It's nothing." He responded warily, keeping himself under complete control when they reached his house. Chioshi walked over to the gate that was actually right beside his. He gave a slight nod before she disappeared through the iron bars and through her front door.

He waited for a moment until he knew she wasn't going to come back out, his eyes looking back towards Soubi, a hint of irritation in them. Soubi couldn't help but smile at Ritsuka's coyness, moving towards him and pecked him lightly on the forehead, being immediately brushed off when Ritsuka placed an annoyed hand on Soubi's chest, pushing him away.

"You know you can tell me anything." The milky blonde haired male reminded him, slinging his arms loosely on Ritsuka's shoulders, placing his cool hands on the boy's neck, making the child shudder slightly.

"I finally met someone and you ruined everything." He said softly, ashamed that he'd admit to something so stupid. Ritsuka cared for Soubi dearly, and then sometimes he acted like a complete and utter imbecile. The boys eyes looked back towards Soubi, a small smile creasing through his lips before he whispered. "I missed you."

"I missed you too Ritsuka." Soubi whispered without hesitation, cupping the boy's chin as he descended his icy cool lips onto Ritsuka's hugging the ninth graders lips for a moment of time before he pulled away. He smirked slightly seeing the raven-haired boys facial expression. His sacrifices eyes were melted closed, his head still tilted back.

It seemed Ritsuka didn't exactly want it to stop; then again he also wasn't giving Soubi any signs that he didn't want it anymore. At the right time Soubi once again met the juniors lips, grabbing them much more deeply then the last time. Of course, it really got Ritsuka nervous this time, pulling away as his face turned an extreme shade of scarlet.

"You never said to stop." Soubi stated, pulling Ritsuka into a hug as he cradled his head on top of Ritsuka's, patting the spot of his head in between his two blackish ears, stroking the soft silky hair without ease.

"Baka.." Ritsuka muttered, closing his eyes as he stood there lifelessly for a moment. Then he pulled away once Soubi let go, watching him take off to his front door.

"Ai shiteru, Ritsuka." Soubi said seductively, watching him as he turned the doorknob, about to step into the house.

"See you tomorrow, Soubi." He responded with a light smile, disappearing through his door as he closed it behind him, being suddenly embraced by a worried mother.

"Sweetheart, where have you been..?" Masaki said a little worried, cradling her son's head between her frail, weak slender arms.

"I walked home with a new friend mom. Our neighbor. She's really nice." He responded, finally deciding to hug his mother back. It felt awkward to him to do this, ever since his mother finally accepted him, he felt so weird when she talked to him so nicely.

"Oh, that's great hun. I'm glad you've made a new friend. What would you like for dinner?" She asked him calmly, releasing him from her arms and grabbed him softly on his wrist, pulling him towards the kitchen and allowed him to sit down, giving him suggestions.

He thought for a moment, watching his mother's hopeful face for a moment as he returned a weak forced smile. Ritsuka took her options into thought; thinking of exactly he was into. Finally he came up with something, simple, but something he knew he'd enjoy it.

* * *

Clicking tapped from the keyboard as the male began to type away for his essay he had to write, which was due tomorrow. Before he did anything he informed his mother he'd be in his room for the rest of the night. Ritsuka was relieved that his mother took everything much easier then she used to, it get him a whole lot of slack. 

His fingers quickly typed away, writing in explicit detail about Sayuki Chioshi. She was purely an amazing girl. One of a kind, then his eyes lit up weirdly when a flashing tab caught his attention at the bottom of his screen. _'Yuiko?'_ He thought curiously, clicking on it, and squinted his eyes to read it normally.

Sou-chan says:

Homework, huh?

"Soubi.." Ritsuka grumbled, but he didn't remember ever giving him his email. Instead of ignoring it, he responded, typing slowly to think of something exactly to say.

Loveless-kun says:

Yes, that's right. What does it matter to you?

He leaned back in his chair, it seemed Soubi was typing something long. Then again he always had something to say to him, important or not. Ritsuka sighed slightly, closing his eyes but his ears twitched when he heard the 'bleep' from the messenger.

Sou-chan says:

Ritsuka, I could sense something query about your school. I could sense battle partners around campus. I don't know if I'm correct, but I feel that the school isn't safe for you. Maybe you should look into it yourself. I found out that there was a new battle system unit that had aroused. I never found out the name, but I know their pair name. They go by 'Weightless' and I know they go to your school.

Ritsuka's eyes lit up curiously. He too had sensed something ominous around the school, and it came from that female he had met in the morning. _'Maybe she's one of them..?'_ He asked himself although he was unsure if he was right, he'd find out sooner or later.

Loveless-kun says:

If you want I can look into this for you. But do you think you could meet me outside my house in the morning? I want you to meet something. Her name is Urima Katsuka. I want you to check her out for me. She seemed to know me very well this morning and it seemed she had something to do with the battle systems. I don't know if I'm correct though, all I know is when she was around I had this weird tingling running through my skin.

The boy waited patiently for his answer. He couldn't help but feel curious; was he actually getting a hang of this Sacrifice and Fighter thing. It surprised him horribly that he actually could sense things himself. Maybe one day he'd actually manage to think of something. Ritsuka was the brains of the two of them, it was sure that he'd think of solutions.

Sou-chan says:

What about your new girlfriend? P.

Loveless-kun says:

She is not my girlfriend! She is someone I met in school. Besides, I like you more..

When Ritsuka had his enter, he wished he hadn't done that. A hint of blush ran through his cheeks as her turned away from the monitor, beginning to breath heavily. He was horrified of what Soubi would say next, but it'd be rude if he didn't respond.

Sou-chan says:

Arigato, Ritsuka. I think I am going to go now. I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well. I love you.

Chu

He sighed softly when he saw him sign offline, glad he had finished his essay he turned him computer off. Crawling over to his bed weakly and undressed himself. Ritsuka wore a pair of stripy flannel two-pieced pajamas; something you'd normally see a female in. But Ritsuka wasn't fooling anyone. The boy knew what he was, so it didn't bother him at all.

Slowly he crawled under the polar fleece sheets, pulling them up to his small chin and melted his eyes entirely shut. The coolness of Soubi's lips lingered forever, making him toss and turn with uncontrollable annoyingness. One last rolls succeeded until he was in dead silence, still and motionless.

Then within the silence, unconscious as he was, a small whisper proceeded through his tender famine lips. "I love you too…" Ritsuka whispered, breaking the silence until the only thing that could be heard was the whistling of the wind outside his window, brushing through the cracks of the sealed glass frame.

* * *

Spleee! Well, there was chapter one for you. I don't think I honestly did that well but I really think some reviews would help. Tell me where I could do a little better. And yes, they may be a little out of character but this does happen to be four years from then, people DO change. Well, I really do hope you enjoyed reading this. And sometime soon I will have chapter two prepared for you. I am also aware of grammar mistakes.. although I have a tendancy to do that.. and I'm also too lazy to fix it at the moment xD but hopefully my second chapter won't be as messy. 


	2. Trust Me

It's me once again . Finally I decided to write chapter two… I've been super busy lately. Sorry for taking so long to actually write it out

Disclaimer: I still own Katsuka and Chioshi, and Ritsuka's new teacher Mrs. Kaname 8B. I'll still be making more so, WATCH OUT!

* * *

2. Trust Me 

Water spilled over his slender body, meeting the drain of the bottom of the bathtub, going into a swirl as it emptied itself away from the porcelain tub. The steamy mist of the showers water piled over the waterproof curtain and into the entire bathroom, making clouds of smoke.

Lathering the beautiful colored ebony hair, which was now a nice midnight black, soapsuds clung to his famine waist and frame, some sliding down his figure and into the whirlwind of water. Ritsuka sighed sleepily, leaving his hands in his hair as he began to lather his cute childish ears.

He sighed irritably, placing his head under the showerhead as he allowed the water to entirely wash away his senses, the soap and his shiver. The boy watch as the warm liquid trickled down his body, going into each crevice of his body, down his thighs, around his ankles and into the tub.

One last sighed escaped his fourteen-year-old lungs as he turned the tap off, stepping out as he wrapped a towel around his waist, grabbing an extra to take care of his hair. Orchid hues gazed around his empty house. Usually his mother was awake at this time, trying to get him ready for school. But is what he said that one day in grade six finally taking affect? Is she actually allowing him to do things on his own for once?

There wasn't going to be any true answers for that, but he was guessing it was a yes. Trying to hurry himself to get ready, he almost tripped over something in his room. Frustrated, he looked down to see what it was. Digital camera.

'_I haven't used this in ages..'_ He thought to himself coldly, sitting on the edge of his bed in only his shirt and boxers, flicking through the different images he had taken. Most of the pictures had been uploaded and plastered onto some Bristol board and tacked there neatly. It was weird that most of them were of either Soubi, or him and Soubi together.

"I'm crazy." He muttered half-heartedly, a small bit of blush crept up his cheeks as he gazed towards his assortment of photos. Soubi was really photogenic, always looking perfect in any kind of photo. _'Probably looks perfect unclothed too.._' His face reddened immediately as he tossed his camera aside, regretting himself saying that.

The boy menacingly, stood up, pulling on a pair of jeans and walked to his door, but stopped immediately when he heard knocking on his porch window, turning to see what was going on. He figured it must've been Soubi, since he knew he was meeting him there, but didn't he know how to use the front door?

Quizzically, he walked over to his window, pulled the curtain across and almost jumped back with a heartbeat. Ritsuka's chest pounded with surprise, it was Soubi, but he least expected him to be looking like that. "What happened to you…?" He asked as the blonde male walked into his room and sat on the floor beside his bed.

"Nothing important.." Soubi muttered, closing his eyes as he waited, but re-opened them when he felt a towel being laid across his damp hair, a weak curious smile forming through his masculine lips.

"You could've at least dried yourself off…" He mumbled, trying to dry the blonde males hair as much as he could. Ritsuka wasn't proceeding as usual. Since Soubi wouldn't sit still, he just stopped, handing the male the towel.

Instead of drying his own hair he turned around to Ritsuka, standing up and neatly dried his hair, causing the ninth grader to blush uncontrollably. He sighed, pushing Soubi away, and turned his head.

"Don't mother me." He protested, keeping his head low as damp strands of raven fell over his eyes. The boy sighed, moving his gaze towards Soubi who had a smoothening, but calm look on his serious face. It made the boy tingle without ease.

"Is that an order..?" He asked him with a slight grin on his face, walking back towards Ritsuka as he kneeled down infront of the boy, slinging his arms around Ritsuka's petite shoulders, letting them hang loose. Soubi's lips looked so smoothening and sweet, soft and moist, and tempting at all the same time.

"Yeah, that's an order Soubi. Now please, can we go to school?" Ritsuka protested, trying to remove the tall male from him but it wasn't helping at all. Soubi was much too strong for the likes of Ritsuka, so he immediately gave up.

"Could you at least say good morning? You worry too much Ritsuka…" He whispered comically, leaning in on the boy as he watched the child's face become pinker and pinker. His lips were only an inch away from Ritsuka's until he breathed. "Onegai..?"

Ritsuka was becoming to breath a little more calmly now, although there was rage running through his veins. 'What's Soubi thinking at a time like this..?' He asked himself questionably, then his mood changed automatically, turning his face into a light, tender smile.

"Ohayo gozaimasu.." Ritsuka whispered, turning his face away but it immediately met Soubi's once again as the older male grabbed his chin and made him forfeit.

It made Ritsuka melt with tenderness, gazing into Soubi's reassuring protective light blue eyes. They were always filled with a hint of compassion, just as they always did when they gazed back into Ritsuka's young, fear filled orchid hues.

"Arigato, Ritsuka. Ai shiteru.." He whispered before his lips met Ritsuka's, pressing them longingly onto the child's. For some reason this one was a lot better then the last. Was it because it was right in the morning, or was it because Ritsuka was so used to it by now?

Without hesitation, Ritsuka kissed the male back, although he didn't know what to do. He'd never had to worry about something like this before, and it didn't seem Soubi was giving up. But his eyes widened curiously when he felt Soubi place a tender, firm hand on his soft pink cheeks, brushing his bone, and slid to his neck.

Ritsuka thought for some further actions, he was entirely confused on what to do. It made him much more embarrassed because he wasn't reacting to any of Soubi's actions, making him seem like the toy and not the partner. But everything made him completely melt when he felt Soubi's firm lips part his, allowing a passageway for his moist, strong tongue to enter his mouth, lightly tapping his.

Immediately Ritsuka's face reddened without ease, pulling away as he gasped for a whole entire wave of air. His eyes looked towards Soubi, they were filled with confusion but Soubi's seemed to be filled with satisfaction. He didn't understand.

"Let's go." Ritsuka ordered, brushing past Soubi towards his bedroom door but was stopped when Soubi grabbed his arm, pulling him into an embrace and lifted him to his feet. He sighed irritably, guessing the older male was going to take him through the window.

He was entirely right. Soubi then walked towards the window, leaping from the balcony and hit the ground with a soft, stable thud. The child let out a sigh of relief, wiggling his legs as if to tell Soubi to let him down. Which wasn't working.

"Soubi! Put me down, I don't want anyone seeing us…" He thought for a moment. "That's an order Soubi.." Ritsuka whispered, and suddenly he felt his feet on the ground, dusted himself off and stood up straight.

His eyes shifted towards the house next to his. _'Chioshi..'_ Ritsuka thought curiously, wondering if the female was hoping to walk with them, he would've but today wasn't the day. The boy's eyes then relocated themselves to Soubi, nodding as he grabbed onto the males hand and began to walk.

Campus was practically empty when they arrived, especially for a high school. They came pretty early to begin with as well, so they as well past the time by looking for the female named young Urima Katsuka. The two of them searched aimlessly, searching for the group of friends.

Far in the distance he spotted them, but Katsuka wasn't there. Curiously he tugged on Soubi's sleeve, dragging him over to the group of girls who seemed pretty scared at Soubi's earless state, but then calmed themselves down immediately.

"What do you want twerp?" One of the girls scoffed, grinning at Ritsuka and then looked up to Soubi, a brighter grin forming across her face. "Is that your boyfriend?" She was brunette, earless, and a real snob.

Ritsuka didn't answer but his eyes moved to Soubi. He seemed completely calm and took heed into talking to the girls. His words were reasonable, calm, and distant, almost as if it was a mere phone call.

"We're looking for your friend Urima Katsuka, do you know by any chance where she might be?" Soubi asked the female calmly, keeping a protective stance beside Ritsuka, keeping a hand plastered on his shoulder.

The female scowled, looking to her friends who shook their heads when she looked at them, her charcoal hues meeting Soubi's as she shook her head, crossed her arms across her chest and gave him a rude glare.

"Why should we tell you?" She asked him coldly, ignoring his 'nice' attitude towards her, but little did she know it'd all change by the click of a button.

"Because if you don't we know exactly how to kill this friend of yours. So, unless you want your friend to die I suggest you tell us." Soubi responded just as light, although his tone kept friendly.

It was starting to confuse Ritsuka irritably. He was unsure if they were toying with each other or the female really didn't know where Katsuka was. Then again, she doesn't seem like the type of person to tell him, even if she did know where she was.

"Well why don't you ask her where she was then.." The female scowled and walked away with her group of friends, then pointed in a direction where the crimson-haired female appeared, a look of confusion was on her face as she approached Ritsuka, and then she smiled a broad friendly one.

"Ohayo Aoyagi-kun." She smiled brightly, lowering her head in respect as she greeted the ninth grader. Slowly she raised her head, looking over to Soubi and her happiness immediately faded, eyeing the earless male down.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He whispered softly, lowering his head in respect to the twelfth grader and gave her a light smile. When he did so, his beautiful blonde locks fell over his cheek bones, causing them to fall over his eyes and then replaced themselves to his shoulder when he stood up straight once again.

Katsuka nodded warily, her raspberry hues moving from Ritsuka to Soubi and then to Ritsuka again. She seemed utterly confused, not knowing exactly what was going on, but she wasn't going to tamper with anything to find something out.

"Well, uh, I'm Urima Katsuka.. But you can call me Katsuka. You are?" The female questioned Soubi, eyeing him down bit by bit; she seemed to really like the male's appearance.

"Agatsuma Soubi." Soubi responded with a light although forced smile, trying to keep himself together as he began to caress Ritsuka's shoulder.

It didn't bother Ritsuka, but it'd bother him if the female noticed. He didn't like to be, close to him when other people were around, it always gave them weird ideas and they always thought the wrong of everything. The boy sighed, giving the female a light smile. They had some time to talk.

"I just came to ask, would you be a threat to Ritsuka? I want to know because I know you're apart of a very dangers organization and I'm afraid that you and you're partner may be of some harm to Ritsuka during school hours."

Katsuka looked at Soubi quizzically, trying to figure out exactly what he was saying. Then her eyes lit up, eyeing down her wrist and pulled her sleeve down. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I don't think I will be… I haven't found my partner yet." Katsuka whispered softly, lowering her head in dismay but immediately raised it again when Soubi grabbed her arm, eying down her scarred skin.

"Is this your given name? Weightless?" He asked her curiously, running his slender fingers across her supple skin, making her shudder slightly when he did it. When he let go she retracted her arm to her side, nodding slowly.

"Yeah it is. But like I said, I haven't found my partner yet. I don't think I will and even if I do, I don't plan on doing those stupid battles. They'll be a waste of my time." She scowled softly, although she did it nice enough not to make it look like she was being rude. Katsuka was being amazingly honest with what she was saying.

Ritsuka and Soubi were both quiet for a moment, exchanging glances before they both set out a sigh in unison. Their eyes met and the only one to look away was Ritsuka, his face reddening with blush.

"I'm guessing you two are partners..?" She asked them curiously, a light smile surpassing the sad look in her eyes. Katsuka was amazingly pretty, even sad, she still took on the look of a goddess.

Ritsuka didn't answer, but Soubi did. "Yes, we are partners. You probably want to find yours don't you. I feel you're lonely without them." He said softly, walking over to the female and placed a light tenderly assuring hand on her shoulder. He bent down so his eyes could meet hers. The combination between the raspberry and the blue was amazing.

"It has nothing to do with you." She whispered, pushing him off and gave him a light grimace. Katsuka had no intentions of being rude; she just didn't want people interfering with her love life, or even her life to begin with.

"I'm sure it does, but Ritsuka and I will be more then happy to find them for you." He told her softly, pulling out his cell phone and held it out infront of her. "Enter your number in here. We can talk when you want." Soubi proclaimed with a light smile.

All of this kindness was making Ritsuka jealous, and sad at the same time. He'd never seen Soubi have such kindness towards a female before, especially if they were one of them. He figured she was a different kind of partner though. She didn't seem to have a very large aura around her, so it seemed like she was an extra.

When she was done entering her number, she pulled out hers, handing it to Soubi. "You can tell Ritsuka to enter his number into mine as well, and get my number from yours. If he has a cell phone at least." Katsuka said softly, then it made her laugh when she realized their names almost sounded the same, just the first two letters were different.

After everything was entered into the each of the cell phones, they were all handed back to the rightful owners. They stood there quietly, chatting amongst themselves, but the topic on spell battles immediately went away, turning into stuff about their lives, and other things.

Ritsuka's attention was distracted when he felt a light tapping on his shoulder and turned around to check whom it was. "Chioshi!" He exclaimed, a bright smile welding through his lips as he gave her a welcoming 'good morning' to her.

"Oh wow, Ritsuka. So my cousin is your new girlfriend?" Katsuka squeaked with pleasure, walking beside her cousin and nudged Chioshi, getting a growl in return.

Ritsuka rolled his eyes as he blushed ferociously, but his eyes turned towards the school when the bell suddenly rang. He was starting to get separation anxiety, knowing he'd have to wait at least seven hours until he got to see Soubi again. "I'll meet you inside Chioshi." He said to the sapphire haired female when he watched her and Katsuka trail off into the building.

"How about I take you to lunch. My treat?" Soubi suggested, pulling Ritsuka into a slight embrace before they parted.

"I'd like that, Soubi." The boy whispered, leaning up to kiss Soubi on the cheek before he left, but Soubi turned his head so instead Ritsuka kissed his lips.

The boy blushed slightly, grabbing the male's lips for a fraction of time before he pulled away, a light satisfied smile running across his face. "See you at lunch Soubi?" Ritsuka asked him softly, already beginning to walk away.

Soubi nodded, walking away as well. "I'll be waiting Ritsuka." He said as he stopped at the gate of the school and mouthed the words. 'I love you' to the boy, chuckling slightly when Ritsuka's face reddened. Although a shock of happiness hit him when he saw Ritsuka's immediate response.

"I love you too, Soubi." Ritsuka whispered towards the blonde male and disappeared through the school doors, leaving campus and everyone was inside.

Students spilled to the front of the classroom as most of them came up with pieces of paper in their hands, placing it on Kaname-sensei's desk. She seemed pleased with the amount of interviews the students handed towards her, guessing she'd have to read a lot.

There was a change of seating plans already in the class. Many students were unhappy about the arrangement except for Ritsuka and Chioshi. However they got to sit right beside each other. It seemed Ritsuka could focus better with the female next to him, being able to actually pay attention to the teacher.

"So, Ritsuka. How much did you write about me?" She asked him in a hushed tone, her emerald hues lightly up with curiosity.

"I wrote as much as I could. You're little bit complicated." He grinned slightly; turning his orchid hues towards the teacher who was blabbing about how much fun she'll have teaching them and such. It was different at this school since one teacher was for every subject, except for gym and music.

"I wrote almost two pages about you Ritsuka. I think you're so fascinating. I can use about two words to sum up everything about you." Chioshi whispered once again, although her face was turned towards the blackboard, but her eyes were still on Ritsuka.

"And those words would be?" He asked her curiously, leaning down in his desk to rest his chin on his already folded arms, his ears perking up with interest.

"Completely amazing." Chioshi smiled, now looking away from him as her face reddened with embarrassment. People seemed to have heard who she was talking to and put her arms over her head, making only her ears pop out from the shield.

In response to the stares he blushed as well, trying to make it look like he was doodling in his notepad. Although he was writing things down, stuff people would do if they had a crush on someone. But this crush wasn't exactly young Chioshi or her cousin Katsuka. Soubi.

Class for once didn't take as long as usual, and the next minute he realized it was second period. Each class took seventy-five minutes each, and ninety-nine percent of the time it was wasted on being taught the subject or anything unrelated. It wasn't the fact that it bothered Ritsuka, but they were there to learn, right?

The boy's head rose slightly when he felt a small nudge from the left side of him, gazing into the females emerald hues when she stared at him glamorously. "Ritsuka, will you help me?" Chioshi asked him softly, hoping he'd agree to accompany her to this problem she needed help with. Her eyes were full of determination.

Ritsuka nodded with a light smile as he sat up perfectly straight, leaning over to examine the fraction the girl needed help with. For the longest time he sat there, staring at the girl as she talked, listening to her magical voice over and over again. He didn't realize that she was done until she said his name again.

"Ritsuka? Are you alright?" She whispered lightly, tapping her pencil on his palm a few times to catch his attention.

"Gomen.." He muttered, looking at the problem and then nodded. "Look you do this." Gently, he took the sheet from her and wrote down an easier way to the fraction, putting different things over top and wrote down different formulas. Ritsuka figured it would help her out a little better then the questions information that it was originally giving her.

Her eyes lightened up slightly when he passed the sheet back, placing the pencil on the desk infront of her. A moment passed until she finally got herself moving in on the question, answering the few problems Ritsuka had set up to her. Triumphantly, she showed him her results.

"That's perfect." He exclaimed, giving her a bright smile of glee. "Would you like me to do that to the rest of the questions for you?" The boy asked her curiously, he'd do it for her to help her out at any cost.

"No, thanks. I got it figured out." Chioshi smiled as she turned back to her sheet and began to scribble down the answers. Her head lowered as she concentrated, causing her sapphire locks to fall neatly over her cheek bones, brushing past them and hung freely infront of her eyes.

Small little waves of happiness brushed through the boy's body as he watched her every movement. He found there was something about the girl that always made him smile. Was it the family she was inherited from? Or was it just a gift that was set directly upon the magnificent girl.

His heart raced as he thought about different things, thinking about future things for his life. A hope to keep his friendship with everyone, that'd be perfect in his point of line, making his life entirely wonderful. All he needed was that special someone. 'Soubi.' The thoughts of the blonde male ran helplessly through his mind.

For about another thirty-minutes he sat there, doodling nervously in his notebook as he waited for the school bell to ring to show that it was lunchtime. Ritsuka had told Chioshi earlier that this once he wouldn't be able to eat with her, letting her know that Soubi had offered to take him out for lunch.

"I'll see you afterwards, alright?" He assured her, making her face enlighten with happiness when she saw the cuteness in Ritsuka's smile. The boy nodded gratefully when she agreed, taking off down the hallway.

"Ja ne, Ritsuka!" She hollered as she took off within the crowd of different schools.

Everything was quiet as he walked onto campus, movement was something that wasn't going on outside. Even the smallest bird couldn't be seen. Where was Soubi? His instincts told him Soubi was waiting by the gate, although he couldn't even sense a small appearance.

He wandered aimlessly, looking for the older male. "Where are you…" Ritsuka said worriedly, keeping his orchid hues fixed on different locations of the schoolyard. Then he turned around, only to be face to face with Katsuka.

"Have you seen Agatsuma-san?" She asked Ritsuka curiously, bending down so their eyes met. Her smile was very devious and it made Ritsuka shiver from top to bottom.

"No, I'm looking for him myself… We're supposed to be going out for lunch." He told her coolly, trying not to give too much away as he continued the conversation with the senior.

"Aww, that's too bad. He invited me to lunch too." Katsuka grinned, placing a tender hand on the boy's petite shoulder as she brought a hand to her eyes, gazing enduringly around the yard. "Man, he's late." She growled deeply, dropping her arm to her side as she sulked from her proper standing position.

His eyes glared at her for a moment, although he was madder at Soubi right now. 'Damn you, you never said you were bringing her along..' Ritsuka thought to himself furiously. The boy had wished it was only a he and Soubi lunch, but the female was coming along too.

"There you are Soubi!" Her voice piped up when she saw the blonde male come into the clearing, running towards him but stopped before she collided with him. "What took you so long?"

His eyes glanced to the girl for a moment but looked over to Ritsuka, noticing the anger within the ninth graders face. "Gomen nasai.. It seems I lost track of time." Soubi explained, walking past the female and towards Ritsuka.

A hand lifted slightly before Soubi could come in contact with him, showing he didn't want anything from the male at this point. So far, he needed to calm down, just ignore Soubi for now. He'd be fine later on in the day. "Let's go." Ritsuka said coldly, already beginning to walk through the school gates and onto the sidewalk.

Raspberry and Sapphire iris' watched as Ritsuka walked off, glancing towards each other as they shrugged unknowingly. Reluctantly, they followed to where the boy was walking exactly, trying to figure out why in the world he was acting in such a manner.

It was unquestionable at the moment; Ritsuka's actions were out of jealously. Finding that having the girl there as well would take away from his alone time with the older male. Now everything that he was hoping was ruined. "Stupid girl." He muttered annoyingly, continuing to walk at his quick pace, not daring to look back to the two people that followed behind him.

To the café that Ritsuka was headed to, didn't seem like a long walk, especially at the rate the young boy was walking. He seemed to be in a hurry, although he knew once the two followers actually walked into the store he'd be entirely calm. As he sat down, everything inside of him lurched with annoyance, seeing different people looking at him made it even worse.

His eyes glowed with frustration as he watched Katsuka and Soubi walk into the café and sit infront of him. It took some time until he could finally speak, letting out a small sigh as his ears lowered themselves on his head. He was fine, for now, although he was still mad Katsuka came.

"I know you want to know why she's here." Soubi said immediately, keeping his eyes focused on Ritsuka at all times, making sure he never looked away for even the slightest second.

Ritsuka nodded immediately, finally deciding to look into Soubi's sapphire hues. It comforted him when he did, just as long as he didn't look towards the female. For a moment, he was unsteady, and then he straightened his tenseness, and was entirely fine.

"Well you see, we wanted to discuss things over about her not having her fighter unit. Really, it's horrible to be without one." He said lightly as small smile crept through his lips, adding some expression to his seriousness. "We wanted to also to find a way to help her. We can always battle together and have her practice, even if she never does find her partner."

"I bet you know who her partner is anyways, just not consciously." Ritsuka said bluntly, keeping his orchid hues on Soubi for some attention, keeping himself in line and kept him calm.

"That's not necessarily true Ritsuka. Sometimes it depends on the series." He reminded the child, glancing over to Katsuka, as she seemed to watching both of them closely, although it wasn't a deepening stare.

He stayed quiet for a moment, not being able to think of a comeback to what Soubi had just told him. It frustrated him to be wrong, although being right all the time never got him anywhere, it only kept him in the same place.

"But how do you know she's not a bad player like the rest of them..?" His question was smart for once, although most of the time his questions were good ones as well. He eyed down Katsuka, trying to figure out if this female was like the zeros or not. Even if she wasn't she still had the choice to be a bad pair with her partner, or good, something like him and Soubi.

She growled irritably, straightening herself in the chair and leaned forward, causing her crimson hair to fall neatly infront of her, sliding in between the crevices of her breasts. "Look, I don't intend on hurting anyone. Trust me. I'm a good seed. It depends on how much the others piss me off anyways." Katsuka grinned, leaning back into her chair as she examined her fingernails.

Both Soubi and Ritsuka sighed in unison. They weren't getting anywhere if Katsuka was going to act in such a manner. It definitely didn't help if she wasn't going to pass any information to them either. All they could do is wait until the time came.

Ritsuka jumped slightly when a waitress came up behind them, holding a notebook in her hand and she gave them a bright creepy smile. "Good afternoon you three. What would you like?" She asked them brightly, readying her pen.

It wasn't too long until lunch was over and thank goodness, the three of them had themselves filled for the day. Their departure was a normal one, but it seemed Katsuka would be hanging around them a little more often then she usually would be, only to find her fighter.

"She seems alright.." Ritsuka said meekly, trying to tell himself that she wasn't a bad person then what she seemed. To him anyone could be putting on a silly act to make someone like him or her, but the minute they find someone who is bad to begin with their coldness comes out as well.

Soubi smiled smoothly, brushing an assuring hand over his cheek as he gazed deeply into Ritsuka's eyes. "Don't worry about it. I won't let her harm you." The male assured him, stopping his hand on the bone of Ritsuka's face and slid it off of his cheek, dropping it lightly beside his hip.

"You better not.." He hissed, looking away from the male for a moment as he glanced over to his High School in which many pupils were organizing themselves through the front door, almost causing some of the freshmen to tumble over one another.

He sighed with a light smile, letting his eyes shut into a small closure. It bothered him to think Ritsuka didn't trust him with his life, but then again Ritsuka really was always the stubborn type to him, and he didn't know why after three years he had never come to trust Soubi fully. Really, it tore him apart.

For a moment he stayed silent until he leaned forward, letting his beige locks fall over his cheeks and infront of his eyes. "Ritsuka, I won't let anyone hurt you. If they I will kill them with my bare hands, alright?" By this point both of Soubi's hand were in his pant pockets and there was no sign of a visible smile on his thin lips. This subject was nothing to smile about, and he really wanted the child to trust him.

Ritsuka's eyes flickered back to Soubi for a moment, his lips curved upwards holding back a small smile, but he didn't want to show Soubi that he had given into his kindness, he was too soft and sometimes it was stupid how easily he could be fooled. "Okay Soubi, I trust you. Will you come pick me up after school?" He asked the elder student warmly, grabbing onto Soubi's sleeves and stared back into his sky-blue iris'.

Only a fraction of time passed before Soubi nodded and stood up probably causing Ritsuka's grip on his sleeve to loosen and let the young child's arm subside to his hips, causing his head to rise as Soubi ascended a little bit taller. "Of course I will come pick you up after school." He responded in a soft, but intriguing tone, turning his back to Ritsuka, although his head still faced in the child's direction.

A nod followed after Soubi's leave, letting his orchid hues watch the blonde male walk through the school gates and finally allowed him to accept that he wouldn't be seeing Soubi for another two to three hours. Nothing but a lonesome sighed followed the freshmen's sullen breathing, letting his body weaken slightly from exhaustion. By the looks of it, he might as well enjoy the rest of his day. It was only a Tuesday, though he figured the next three would be gone faster then you could say, I want Saturday to come.

As soon as Ritsuka walked into his classroom, the annoying chatter of his classmates filled his ears, making both sets of his drums ache with annoyance. Though the minute he heard the chiming voice of his most favored classmate he considered the pain something very little and worthless.

"How was lunch Ritsuka?" Chioshi asked him curiously as she sat in her desk next to him, folding her hand together, propped up by her elbows and perched her chin on top, letting her bright green eyes dazzle underneath of the fluorescent classroom lights.

The boy's ears lifted slightly to her voice and he sat up properly, making sure he didn't slouch as he talked to the female. "I guess it went well. I mean, I guess I spent it with your cousin as well. She stayed with us the whole time." Ritsuka told her in pure honesty, making the slight bit of disgust arise in his throat. He still couldn't get over the fact that he couldn't have a lunch to himself with Soubi.

"My cousin? Oh, you mean Katsuka. Well, once she finds someone she likes she has a tendency to follow them around everywhere." She smiled, un-twining her fingers and sat up, pulling out her sketchbook that was inside her desk. The minute she opened up the book, the boys eyes beside her widened with amazement. "What? Haven't you seen my work yet?"

He swallowed slightly as he shook his head, still trying to get over the amazing art this girl performed. In all his life he actually hadn't seen someone draw so well except for Soubi, and even Soubi was an amazing painter and drawer. "No, I haven't. May I?" Ritsuka leaned forward to talk to her, finding that the room got louder by the minute.

Chioshi giggled slightly and closed the sketchpad, and slid it into her desk. "How about later okay? Maybe sometime if you ever decide on coming to my house. I have a whole collection you'll like." The girl told him in a promising fashion. She always kept her promises, and she was more then happy to have her neighbors come over for a visit.

A small hint of redness formed across Ritsuka's small cheek as he nodded, forcing his embarrassed self to smile even the smallest bit. He would be more then happy to go to Chioshi's house, even if it was a female. For some reason being at a girl's house didn't bother him. He had no intentions of having any 'close' relationships with girls, but if he did it'd be more or less something like very, very close friends.

When the teacher walked into the room, everyone quieted down, guessing they were used to the teacher yelling at them every so often. This class for the afternoon was art, and young Aoyagi was rather interested in what Chioshi had in store for her assignment. Ritsuka wasn't the best of artists, many people could tell. Though he was excellent at photography, and he loved calligraphy as well.

The rare cute smile formed across his lips as he watched the girl beside him. She rather paid close attention to the teacher, and she seemed like a role model for the rest of the girls in his class as well. For some reason he wished he had that effect on some of the other boys in his class. Kind of like when he was in sixth grade. He was labeled 'cool'. Only by one person of course, then again maybe others were just too jealous to admit it.

Like the day before, the class went by at a normal pace, and for once Ritsuka learned something in art class, since they had a double period of it, he got to spend most of his time practicing on the skills he barely had. Though this time around, his caricature of his partner looked so similar it shocked him. As soon as he saw Chioshi's drawing, his heart sank although his eyes widened with admiration.

"Do I really look like that…?" Ritsuka asked her astonished, taking the sheet of paper from the female and examined it. Of course she was drawing a picture of him, though in all his life he never imagined that he actually looked like that. It was an amazing drawing and he never saw himself in that kind of way.

The girl giggled softly and retrieved her piece of art from him. "Not really. I added my own features, but I put exactly what I see of you Ritsuka… you make me smile when you smile, so I had to do something that would make me smile." She whispered to herself as she held the drawing closer to her chest closing her eyes. "Ritsuka you make me feel wonderful when I talk to you, and you seem like such an amazing friend. I never got that from someone before.."

Immediately from her words his face reddened with immense force, causing him to hide his face in arms, attempting to hide the brightness of his cheeks. Ritsuka didn't know how to respond to Chioshi's kindness, there had never been a time where someone had actually done something like this for him… except for, "Soubi." Without realizing it he said the name a loud and the blue haired female leaned towards him.

"Soubi? Oh, you mean that blonde adult you've been around lately?" She smiled half-heartedly as she tried to catch his eyes, failing irritably as she sat back properly into her seat and closed her eyes as she sighed. "I think you should hang out with people your age Ritsuka. I mean, not that he doesn't seem like a good person, but you're fourteen, normally people our age are going around with their soul mates and being teenagers."

He pretty much ignored what she said to all his extent, although he caught some of it and it only made him bury his face much further into his arms, letting his ears flatten themselves along the sides of his head. Chioshi was right about some of it, about him hanging around Soubi at this age. He wanted to explain to her how much this 'adult' meant to him, and what kind of change he's applied on Ritsuka's life.

Silence came from the girl for a moment as she placed a hand on his forearm and tried to catch his eyes again, and succeeded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say something to hurt you…" She whispered apologetically and leaned back into her seat once again, spreading out her work and stared dreamily at it. Her stature was so perfect, and even though she appeared to be sad at the moment, a slight curve of a smile was still visible on her lips.

As slow as time could ever move, it stayed at it's slow pace. Even though art was a double period, until the end of the day, it was droning on, making it seem like two minutes was a half-an-hour. It was irritating, and he wanted to get moving so quickly. No one in the class had realized what time it was, and silence soon be-filled of the room.

_"Soubi.. Where are you…"? His voice echoed within the darkness, tears streaming down his eyes as he walked aimlessly through the pathless area._

_"You're almost there Ritsuka, but hurry… you only have a certain amount of time."_

_"Certain amount of time!? What are you talking about!?" Ritsuka whimpered slightly, thinking of what might become of his Soubi. "What's happening to Soubi!?"_

_"Run, run Ritsuka. It's your fault Soubi is dying. You weren't there to protect him. What kind of sacrifice are you?" The voice broke out into hysteric laughter and boomed through the young boys ears._

_"No! Soubi I'm coming! Don't die on me!!!" Tears flowed down his cheeks, causing his eyes to puff up with immense redness, and his legs were becoming weaker as he ran, and then a burst of light illuminated where he was standing._

_Finally he could see, and there in the distance, in a great puddle of blood lay Soubi, the crimson liquid flooding the cement around him. His legs picked up, and just as he got into a good run, he tripped and fell, face first into the wet cement. It had started to rain._

_"Soubi.." He moaned, clenching his face, which was starting to bleed greatly, holding the facial wound with his one arm. When he crawled over to the dying male, placing his hand over the stomach wound. "Don't die on me Soubi!!" He shouted over the silence, a speck of his own tears spattered against the blondes face. Causing him to stir._

_"Why… Ritsuka? I thought… you loved me…" He whispered, his sapphire irises staring into the pitch-black sky, as if asking the heavens if he was sinned._

_"No.. I… Soubi.. What are you talking about…?" He was starting to shake non-stop and he took his hand away from Soubi's wound, noticing a knife being creating in his clenched fist. Suddenly he was becoming sick to his stomach, looking down to the blade in his hand and the constantly bleeding wound in Soubi's chest. "I didn't do this!" Ritsuka tried to explain what he didn't know, his tears becoming invisible in the falling rain._

_"Ritsuka.. I love you…" Was Soubi's last words, and his head fell hard onto the cement since he was propping it up to see Ritsuka, and his eyes were spread open, blood pouring from the openings in his body._

_"No, No Soubi, Don't leave me! DON'T LEAVE ME! SOUBI!!"_

Suddenly his head rose, faces all stared at him and tears were falling down his cheeks, and there was blood on his face and hands. _'What happened…'_ He groaned to himself, noticing where there was blood he was digging his nails into the flesh, and the tears that fell made his face feel so sticky, and he couldn't explain what had happened.

"Ritsuka!? Are you all right?" Chioshi was at his side the whole time, attempting to wake up the poor boy. Horror was filled over her face as she kneeled beside him on the floor, her emerald hues glittering with worry as she noticed all the blood that was on him.

"I'm… fine.." He lied, getting up from where he sat and gathered his things, hulled them under his arm and walked out of the classroom, saying not a word as he left his shocked classmates. There was nowhere he could go for now, except for Soubi's apartment when he found the male. If his mother saw him in this state she'd freak. "I need to clean up…"

The tears on his face transformed into sticky glue, causing his hair to stick tightly to his skin, as soon as she washed himself as good as he could've he exited the washroom, walked over to his locker, stored all of his things and continued down the hallway. Ritsuka's wounds were still bleeding, his nails lately had been very sharp, and he had seemed to puncture his flesh deeply.

When he finally pushed open the front door of the school no one questioned him, and still he continued walking, holding the bleeding wound on his face so it didn't look too horrible. Although it didn't help at all, the blood still spewed from the wound and through the crevices of his fingers, finding the ground as he paced. Then it began to rain, and silently he cursed at the sudden weather change.

"Soubi.. where are you…" He whispered, finding a wall at the side of the school and slid down it, just until his bottom hit the ground. Tears began to slide down his cheeks again and he closed his eyes, pulling all of his body weight towards himself as he waited. Soubi would come sooner or later, hopefully sooner. He promised to come for him after school anyways.

Then the rain began to fall harder, pounding greatly upon his head, and within minutes he was completely drenched, shaking, and alone. No matter what, he would wait for Soubi, hoping that he would be taken under the safety. His whole entire body began to tremble, but he wasn't afraid of it, and he laid his head back against the wall, watching as the droplets of rain met his eyes, and body, continuing to threaten him to leave his spot.

"Not until he comes…"

* * *

Damn, I'm sorry for taking so long to actually finish this one D: I wanted to complete it so badly. But things got caught up with me. Reading books, trying to write other stories I plan on publishing sooner or later. Hopefully you like this one as much as my first. I worked just as hard. Ta ta for now 3

Thanks for going this far with me .


	3. There's Only You

I'm sorry for such a delayed chapter. I guess you can notice a difference in my writing skill this time around. I tried, I know this is some-what short compared to my other chapters, please don't be hard on me (: I tried my very best. I hope you really enjoy this. Still, I'm so sorry it's short x___x

Disclaimer: My views of these characters are mine and mine only. If you have a problem with the way I display their feelings, please find another fanfiction to take it out on. Thank you (: I do this to please myself and my readers.

* * *

_**3. There's Only You**_

Un-desired chills collected through his body, his nose and appendages curling up from the sudden frost that burned through his throat and his fingers. Small tufts of hair fluttered in front of his face, gliding across his eye-lids, blowing with each little breath of air that seeped through his lungs. It was dark, and it was quiet. An unfamiliar shifting of air subsided alongside him, un-familiar warmth that appeared closer to him than he once recognized before. Were I am...? The boy thought, his heart thundering immensely in his chest, as he sighed longing sighs of comfort.

The young child pondered on where his previous whereabouts, now his current. How did he get home so quickly? His memory was all a haze to him, only remembering where he actually was before he managed to get home. Then it hit him like the sudden surprise of a rock meeting his head. School, He thought, thinking about where he previously was. Then there were those tears, tears that were cried only for one person, for one dream that he faced. He didn't understand it, but he remembered running out of his classroom, out into the rain. That's where his little memory stopped giving him information.

_Did I fall asleep...?_ He asked himself, shifting his weight uncomfortably, feeling a hard barrier stopping him from stretching further, and his limbs were feeling oddly crunched together. The presence of a hand lingering on his waist woke him into awareness, and his eyes opened slightly. "Soubi..?" Ritsuka whispered unconsciously, rubbing his eyelids, taking away the un-wanted sleep from his eyes.

"Mmm..." Was his reply, and Ritsuka gasped softly, looking around the room. It obviously wasn't his, only a dumb person could assume it was their own.

"How did I get here..." The boy whispered, tucking his forehead into the crevice of Soubi's chin and neck, feeling warmth in the protection.

"I'm sorry for not coming sooner..." Soubi whispered, tightening his grasp around the teenager, burying his nose into the silky blackness of hair. "If I had known school was ending sooner..."

Immediately Ritsuka pulled back, his attention fixated on the sleepy blond male. "School didn't end early, Soubi. I ran out of class. It was last period." He grunted, placing both of his hands onto the older male's chest and pushed back, prying his body out of Soubi's arms, and moved away. "Ouch.." He groaned, pressing the palm of his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. Sudden sneezes began to shoot through his body and he arched forwards, trying to ease the sudden pain.

"Ritsuka." A hand was placed onto his shoulder and he glanced towards the male, his icy blue irises gleaming in the soft fluorescence of the apartment room. "You're sick..." Sorrow filled the male's eyes as he kissed the back of the boys head, and he slid out from the bed. "I'll return." His voice was blanketed with wariness.

"Sick." He coughed forcefully, not exactly remembering the last time he really was sick, thinking about the many times he lied to stay out of school, to stay away from Soubi.

The dream from his class seemed to be playing over and over continuously in his mind, sending waves of agony throughout his chest. He didn't want to go through that again, no, not until you got some explanations on the subject. His breathing paced into a calm pattern, and he glanced over to the clock. Two AM. Ritsuka breathed through his teeth, arching his head backwards, feeling the pain from a sudden migraine turning his thoughts into fire.

"Take this." Soubi's sudden voice caught him off guard and he jumped shakily, turning around to face him, almost as to be sure it was really him. "Thank you.." He muttered softly, taking the glass of water and medication the male offered him, tipping the pills into his mouth and washed it down with a swig of water. Both of their eyes met for a fraction of time, and then he smiled, looking down into his lap.

"How long have I been here?" He finally asked, brushing away an ebony lock and blinked his eyes closed for a moment, opening them again to stare into the glass.

"Since five this afternoon," Soubi hesitated, sitting down onto the bed beside Ritsuka and placed a hand over the hand that was placed on the bed beside him. "You were sitting outside on the sidewalk, apparently waiting for me. Completely unconscious, thought you had died..." His voice went quiet at the end of the sentence and he squinted slightly as if saying it hurt him entirely. "Got you here and you've been sleeping ever since." Then he smiled, running his fingers across his wrist and pulled back quickly, placing his hand into his lap.

His fingers traced the outline of the glass, listening to the small grinding sound of the tattered crystal rubbing off onto the pads of his fingertips. It didn't surprise him that he'd been here so long; Soubi wouldn't have woken him up anyways, even if it was necessary. He was sure his sickness would pass in the next day or so, he was afraid of sleeping though, consciously anyways; especially if he was going to face another dream. Maybe if he talked to someone, his doctor had been absent for quite some time now, so she was out of the subject.

Droplets from the water attached themselves to his finger tip, and he brought it up in front of his eyes, examining the transparent dot. His eyes stared right back at him, however the faintness of his skin shone through the water as well, making his eye a haze of lilac. When he glanced towards Soubi, his gaze drifted towards his sapphire irises, frowning slightly at the sadness in the male's eyes.

"I'm fine." He grunted, pressing the droplet to his lips and placed the cup of water onto the end table, scooting closer to the male and wrapped his arm around his waist. "You don't need to worry about me, okay? If there's anyone who needs to be worried about, it's you."

"Don't be foolish," Soubi interjected, glancing down to him beneath him, placing his hand on the crown of Ritsuka's head, rubbing his head softly. "I can take care of myself, don't you bother trying to help me." He whispered with a sigh, resting his head onto Ritsuka's head.

The two of them sat there in silence, allowing the sound of rain that continued to pound through the panes to be the only noise to be heard of, other than their breathing. _It's weird,_ Ritsuka thought. _If I make the move first, it always feel as if it's the right thing to do, like I'm helping him... but when he starts..._ His train of thought shifted when his cell phone began to vibrate.

"Your cell phone has been going crazy ever since I found you. Maybe it's your girlfriend." Soubi grinned, leaning forwards and grabbing onto the cell, handing it to the boy.

"Thank you." He snapped, flipping it open. A smile curved on his lips as he read it, hiding it from Soubi's eyes as he turned away from him, holding the screen close to his face.

'_Ritsuka, I'm sorry,' _it said._ 'I thought I was helping, it was improper for me to do anything when you were feeling terrible. If you're not coming to school tomorrow, I understand. I will gather your things for you. Love you as a friend, Ritsuka Xoxo. – Chi'_

"Told you." Soubi cooed, standing up from the bed and walked over to the chair by his desk, sitting down on it and balanced on the back two legs. "You know, she's a real cute girl, why not, huh?" His voice seemed saddened, however it seemed to be mono-toned, as well.

"She loves me as a _friend_ Soubi." Ritsuka groaned, beginning to type a response to her, and then shut it closed, tucking it into his pant pocket. "I don't understand why you're so desperate for me to have a girlfriend, I mean, I'm only 14." He coughed softly, balling his hand up in front of his mouth and sighed, placing both of his hands opposite of him.

Soubi grimaced. "I'm not desperate, I'm just saying..." he trailed off and glanced towards the clock. "Why'd you choose such an awkward time to wake up...?"

"I would've slept longer if you weren't in the bed with me, moron." Ritsuka hissed, standing up and walked over to Soubi, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "Besides, if I've been sleeping since five like you said, I've gotten enough sleep already."

The man nodded calmly and then stood up, walking out of the room and into the room where he held all of his food. Normally, it'd be considered a kitchen, but with the lack of things a kitchen would usually contain, it was just a room. "Are you hungry?" He called, glancing over his shoulder towards Ritsuka who stood in the doorway, glancing around.

"A little," He mumbled, pressing his lips together in a thin line and stepped through the opening and into the room, beginning to venture through some cupboards. "Since when do you actually have bread?" He asked, bewildered. Soubi wasn't much of the grain type of person.

"When you started calling this place your home, Ritsuka," He replied, opening the fridge and pulled out some eggs and milk, cheese, and other stuff. "Feel like omelets?" he asked, pushing the door closed with his foot and walked into the middle of the room.

Ritsuka nodded hungrily, sitting down in a chair on the farthest wall, beside a table. Being here did feel like home, even if his mother was a little less on the crazy side, he still felt welcomed here. It always had this presence that made him feel like he was meant to be here, instead of at home. Maybe, one day, he could live here, just as friends. The thought made him smile to himself, pressing his fingers to his lips and closed his eyes, his ears beginning to perk up in satisfaction.

"Thinking about me?" Soubi chuckled, pulling out a frying pan from the cupboard. He frowned softly.

"You ruined my happy thoughts." He whined, a smile curving on his lips as he brushed his finger tips along his face and placed them into his lap.

"They must've been good." The man sighed, tying his hair up into a ponytail and flipped an egg into the pan.

"You're supposed to crack the egg first." Ritsuka stated, getting up off the chair.

Soubi chuckled. "What's wrong with some crunch? You know, the shell is actually healthier for you, Ritsuka." He smiled, picking the egg out of the pan and tossed it into the garbage. "If you're going to complain, you do it yourself."

Ritsuka grunted, pushing the male aside. "Maybe I will." His hand quickly cracked a few eggs into the pan, quickly setting everything into place, pouring in the milk, and preparing the cheese. This came to him naturally, fending for himself because his mother refusing to make anything for the 'fake' Ritsuka.

"You're still the same." Soubi smiled.

"So, why were you outside anyways, Ritsuka?"

Words seemed to be at a loss for him, and he stared blankly at the floor, rubbing his toes into the carpet of the apartment flooring. He didn't want to tell him, it was kind of terrifying, even thinking about what his dream was. It seemed so real, way too real to even think of it to be a silly little dream. Then his eyes flicked up to Soubi's agony suddenly swarming into his eyes, almost terrorizing.

"Ritsuka?" Soubi leaned forward, noticing the horror that filled in the teenager's eyes. "What's wrong...?"

Ritsuka looked away again, feeling that when he looked away, it calmed him down. "It's nothing, forget it." He whispered, running his fingers across the slices in his arms from his nails, feeling the slight gouges in his flesh. He jumped back slightly from Soubi's sudden closeness.

"Tell me, please. I want to be able to help..." The words were almost pleading, as if he was more or less demanding him.

"Soubi.." Ritsuka whispered. "Is it possible, to have premonitions? Or is that, just you know, something people assume. That it feels so real, but, really... it's not." He looked into the males eyes, filled with despair. Remembering his dream sent shudders of fear through him, fearing the outcome himself. "Hah, or am I completely insane..?" His voice trembled as he spoke, a small terrified laugh running through his voice back, and tears began to form in his eyes.

Soubi watched him seriously, not finding it hilarious at all. "What are you having premonitions about, Ritsuka?" He asked him calmly, rubbing his shoulders as if to soothe him, but it really only made Ritsuka more afraid of everything.

A tear dripped from his cheek to his hand, his eyes wide with fear. "Forget it Soubi. Please..." The tone of his voice was almost pleading, it was pleading, just for everyone's safety.

Fingers wiped away his tears and he leaned his face into the comforting hand, grabbing onto it, keeping it fastened to his cheek. "Please Ritsuka; I want you to tell me..." The blond's whispers were petrifying, and it only made the boy choke on his sudden sobs.

Small kisses were planted onto the blonds' hand. "I'm probably over-reacting," He whispered, continuing to kiss the others palm, finding comfort in the touch of him. When he opened his eyes to read Soubi's, he saw only determination and sorrow. "Fine..." He sighed, giving the man's hand back to him, putting both of his own into his lap, digging them deep into the crevice where his two legs met.

The boy told the other everything, trying to fit the words between sobs, trying to get every single detail through to him. It was terrifying to even speak it, much less feel a part of it when asleep. The blood, the tears, the coldness of death; everything appeared to feel real in his dream, and he was afraid, so terribly afraid. Even so, the other listened intently, caressing the others face as he sobbed deeply, his breaths becoming rigid and frail. Then he was stopped.

"Ritsuka please, it's nothing to worry about, nothing's going to happen to me, to you; to us." He whispered, bringing the boy close to him and pressed his lips onto his forehead. Soubi wanted to believe it himself. Dreams really were terrifying, especially when it contained deaths, deaths of people who meant the world to you. "Don't pay attention to it... it's alright..." He hushed Ritsuka, pulling him into his arms, wrapping his warm, comforting limbs around the boy's small body.

He choked softly before he began. "What happens if it does..? What can we do... what I can do... Soubi, I don't want to kill you... I would never kill you... what would make me kill you...?" All of his sentences were scattered, without much of a meaning to any of them. "Just don't leave me... I want to stay by your side... to make sure nothing happens... Please..." Ritsuka pleaded, his hands gripping onto the fabric of Soubi's shirt, spreading his hand out onto the small of his back. "I love you Soubi... I'd never want you to die..."

A smile curved on Soubi's lips, burrowing his mouth into the boy's hair and kissed the top of his head, closing his eyes for a fraction of time. At a loss for words, words that would comfort Ritsuka into believing nothing is going to happen. Though it was like telling a diseased girl that she was going to survive, she wasn't going to die. That was a lie though, people were meant to die eventually, and it was just his time; maybe. "We can stop it if we can. We'll stop it together, Ritsuka. I'll always stay by your side, because I love you, Ritsuka..."

Gracefully Ritsuka's face was lifted from the man's chest, his bright irises glittering in the dim lights of the room. He knew what was coming next, it always seemed to happen this way, even if he was prepared for it or not. This one was fiercer and desiring, a kiss full of fire and longing. Small little whimpers subsided through Ritsuka's lungs, kissing the males back with a force he never thought he had to offer. It was like their last goodbye, but he didn't want it to be, he wanted to stay here, like this, and protect Soubi with what he actually had.

When their faces pulled apart, Ritsuka's eyes were locked on the eyes in front of him, still filled with pain and terror. "I won't let anything happen to you Soubi..." He promised, brushing a golden strand of hair away from the man's cheek. "Nothing is going to harm you, not while I'm around..." Those words were true, and as he pressed his face into Soubi's chest, the thudding belonged to him. He knew it was true, because no other heart beat just for him.

Soubi's remained sealed, pondering on a proper response to Ritsuka. It was hard, he couldn't take the pain that tore his heart into small pieces. He wanted to believe that Ritsuka could save him, that their lives could remain perfect and unharmed. It seemed possible in the eyes of a younger boy, but to him, someone more experienced, more involved with life, thought otherwise.

Slowly his eyes closed, and he lowered his head, pressing his warm forehead against Ritsuka's, fighting back the sudden urge to cry. "I trust you Ritsuka..." He smiled, his lips partly only slightly. "I always will,".

* * *

Fragments of hair fluttered across his cheeks, the warmth that was growing throughout his limbs and cheeks was a feeling he hadn't remembered in a long time. His lips, determined and protective. _'Soubi...'_ When he finally came to realization, his hands were clenched together behind his head, being held tightly within the older mans. Ritsuka's breathing patterns were faulty, and his whole entire body tingled with a desire for yearning. What was this feeling?

Difficultly his eyes opened, blond hair was draped over his face, and the first thing he saw was Soubi, his face pressed to his. Suddenly he realized what was happening, and all at once brought his hands underneath Soubi, pushing him off of him. "Get off Soubi!" His voice echoed against the stark white walls, and out through the open window. For a moment, he hadn't understood what was happening. Catching his breath wasn't the hard part.

_'How long had we been kissing....?' _ A hand came to his forehead, feeling his burning flesh scorch away at his palm, sending signals of illness through him. "Soubi...?" His eyes scanned over towards the male who sat at the edge of his bed, his hands linked together, troubled.

Soubi didn't look his way immediately, but he arched his head slightly, and then looked over to him. There was pain, and torture that flooded through his irises. « I'm scared, Ritsuka... » He turned, grabbing onto his hands, and pressed his forehead against them. Ritsuka gasped softly, leaning forward, the heat coming from Soubi was unexplainable. "I'm scared of losing you..."

Ritsuka opened his mouth to speak, however only a small crack of words came out. "Didn't you hear me earlier Soubi!? Nothing is going to happen! I promise, okay...?" Small little droplets of tears welled up in his eyes, and he leaned towards the man. "I'm sorry for pushing you off of me, I... Didn't know what you were doing."

"No," He interrupted. "That was my fault, I shouldn't have taken advantage of you while you were sleeping. I'm an idiot Ritsuka... punish me..." Ritsuka could feel the saddness and fear developing in Soubi's words, it just made his heart weaker, and more vulnerable to his actions.

His head began to shake, almost too quickly. "No no no! Soubi, I will never punish you... what's going on!? Why are you acting like this...?" As soon as he said that, Soubi stood up, and walked out of the room. "Where are you going? Soubi!?" The effort it took to pull the blanket from his legs shouldn't have been as difficult as it was, and it caused him to stumble. His fall was saved by Soubi who rushed back into the room, tears falling down his face.

"Sou...bi?" A hand was placed on the small of his back as his body was pulled close. The stickiness of Soubi's tears trickled down the side of his neck, caused him to flinch at the touch. "What's gotten into you...?" Unconsciously his hand began to stroke the back of the males head. Each little strand of blond, the silkiness and smoothness of it, sent trails of electrifying sensations through Ritsuka's fingertips, and into his body.

It was dark, it was very dark. Rain hit the roof like rocks hitting the roof of a car, loud and angrily. There they sat though, in the middle of the floor, clenching onto eachother as if their life depended on it. Ritsuka felt like crying with Soubi, but he didn't understand. He didn't understand the pain he was enduring. He would never understand what it'd be like to lose someone, or have the feeling of lose someone they loved dearly. His own realization hit him suddenly. _'Seimei...' _

His grip tightened, and he could feel the power of longing bubble up inside of him. "Soubi, I will never let anything to happen to us... I..." He closed his eyes tightly, letting pain rush through his veins, spewing out through his hands. The male in his arms tensed, feeling the sudden aggressiveness from Ritsuka.

"Ritsuka.... you're hurting me...." He whispered, grabbing onto the boys forceps, lifting his arms onto his shoulders, letting their eyes meet. "If you saw... what I saw..." He shook his head, closing his eyes again and kissed the teenagers nose, refusing to look at him directly.

Ritsuka grimaced, wrapping his arms around Soubi's neck, pressing his lips gently against Soubi's forehead. "I love you so much... Soubi..." He breathed, collapsing into the males arms weakly, feeling all of his energy being drained from those simple words.

Bright blue orbs widened with shock, this boy, so weak from illness, a confession that would only be made by accident. However, a smile formed across his lips. "I know you do, Ritsuka.." He muttered, holding the boy close, rocking him back and forth in a motherly form. "I'll always protect you, my Sacrifice."

* * *

Droplets of rain glued themselves the glass of the window, threatening to mistake themselves for brutal rain. However, Soubi wasn't convinced, and he smirked delicately at the water specimens. There was a sigh that subsided through his lungs as he looked towards the door, he'd expected someone to come knocking by now. His fingers stroked Ritsuka's hand softly, caressing the small lines of childhood on his palm. When he was a child, life was difficult, and seeing someone like Ritsuka, so frail and independent, made him wish his youth once more.

He sighed, pressing the side of his face against the sheets of his own bed. It was weird having Ritsuka in it, it wasn't something he was necessarily used to. _'I hope to get used to it... once day.' _He wondered what life could be like, with Ritsuka at his sides at all times. It seemed like a miracle, but then again, it seemed too much like a dream to become reality.

Sunlight shone through the curtains, sending beams of angelic light onto the floor boards of Soubi's apartment. It was too warm, almost too warm to be this time of morning. He wanted to be apart of Ritsuka, to understand him, to breathe him. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for him, it seemed... that he was caring for Ritsuka more than Seimei.

Soubi closed his eyes, rubbing the younger boys hand until he pulled away, realizing Ritsuka had unconsciously gripped onto him. A smile formed across his delicate lips as he kissed his hand, closing his eyes with sincerity and compassion. "I love you, Ritsuka." And he stood up, stretching his long slender arms above his head and walked out of the room. Hair drifted past his shoulders as he paced, closing his eyes as he tucked his hands into his pant pocket, and leaned his face over the kitchen sink, heaving out his worst.

_'It makes me sick Ritsuka, look what you're doing to me...'_ He squeezed his eyes shut, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, and drifted towards the floor, keeping his hands tightly on the edge of the counter. _'I can't help but be afraid for you... I'm afraid of what you can do... I'm afraid of you taking me away from you...' _

It was quiet for a moment, silence filled each room of the small apartment, and then there was a slam of the front door. Immediately he rose, running out of the kitchen, his legs moving faster than his feet. "Ritsuka!? What is i-!?" He stopped, and examined the figure at the door, that suddenly collapsed at the mat, hair falling around her head.

"Help me.... Please.." Katsuka's voice was shrill and filled with fear. Blood was dripping from her arms and legs, and there were scratches all along her face. "I can't... fight alone... They've come for me.." Then her conciousness disappeared within the silence of his confusion.


End file.
